* Says policy will unlock huge potential in oil and gas industry, lower operating costs
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja and Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano
The federal government has assured that the new Executive Order signed by President Bola Tinubu will create 2.3 million jobs, and boost the nation’s GDP by $17 billion.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this in Kano, yesterday, at a town hall meeting with the business community.
He said the new Executive Order would unlock the huge potential of the nation’s oil and gas industry by bringing down operating costs, which currently stands at 40 per cent- higher than the global average and compressing oil and gas contracting cycle from 38 months to six months.
“It will generate a billion cubic feet per day of additional gas supply, create 2.3 million jobs, and boost GDP by $17 billion. The new tax incentives being implemented have the potential to attract up to $10 billion in new oil and gas investment,” he said.
The minister said the vision of President Bola Tinubu was to create an enabling environment where businesses could thrive through streamlining regulations, investment incentives, provision of infrastructure and robust policies aimed at fostering economic stability and prosperity.
He said through enhanced security measures across the Niger Delta Region, the country’s NLNG cargoes had increased from an average of 16 cargoes in 2023 to 21 cargoes in the first quarter of 2024, while crude oil production had risen from 1.22 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2023 to 1.6 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2024.
Idris, said in a deliberate effort to boost industrialisation, the federal government had issued Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) letters of recommendation to 20 manufacturers for expansion and enhanced production capacity, as the Presidential Council on Industrial Revitalisation was currently working on the framework to implement a well-structured and functioning consumer credit system in line with global best practices.
On the provision of critical infrastructure, Idris said the President was working assiduously to break the jinx in the power sector through the implementation of various policies, including the speeding up of the injection of 12,000MW of electricity into the national grid in partnership with the Siemens Energy of Germany, the release of N40 billion for Mass Metering Programme across the country, among others.
He noted that work had commenced on the development of a new 20mw on-grid solar-hydro project in Shiroro, Niger State, near the 600mw Shiroro Hydroelectric Power Plant, describing the 20mw plant as the first phase of a 300mw project.
He said the macroeconomic policies of the President had begun to bear fruits through the sustained appreciation of the Naira, stability in the economy, and the clearing of the foreign exchange backlog of $7 billion by the Central Bank.
Idris said the removal of the petrol subsidy was at the core of the President‘s economic reforms and it has started yielding positive results with the marked reduction in petrol importation to 50 percent monthly – roughly a billion litres a month – since the petrol subsidy was removed in June 2023.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of Kano Business Community, Alhaji Sabiu Bako, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for implementing some of the suggestions they made while he was on the campaign trail to Kano.
He said the Kano Business community wholeheartedly supported the removal of fuel subsidy as it only benefited the upper class and did very little to alleviate the economic burden faced by the majority of Nigerians.
Bako said, “We have submitted our blueprint of demands to His Excellency, the President in an earlier engagement and I have every reason to believe that this is a step towards the implementation of the blueprint.
“We wish to call on His Excellency to ensure that these funds that are made available for the Business Community reach them. We have seen in the past how the Anchor Borrower did not reach those it was meant for. We want the President to ensure that those funds get to those they are meant for.
“We also want Kano to benefit from the aspect of 12,000mw of electricity to be injected into the national grid to support our industries. We have witnessed a migration of many industries from the state due to a lack of power supply to keep them in place.
“We also want the President to ensure that the AKK gas pipeline is completed to ensure that we in Kano and the north in general benefit.”
The chairman also advised the Nigerian government to prioritise the enhancement of exports as a means of generating foreign currency and growing the Gross Domestic Product.
While calling on the government to revive the usual quarterly meeting with the business communities in the country, the chairman also called on the President to ensure that Kano benefits from all the incentives the administration has for the Business Community.
